24 Jan
2014
24 Jan
'14
3:20 p.m.
On Fri, 24 Jan 2014, Geoffrey Oltmans wrote:
What is a minicomputer? A computer somewhere between a
mainframe and a
microcomputer. Okay, what's a mainframe computer?
One somewhat past a minicomputer in the other direction from a
microcomputer.
We all seem to agree that a "mainframe" is "bigger" in some sense than
a
minicomputer; that a "minicomputer" is "bigger" in some sense than a
microcomputer.
But, the boundaries are undefined, or rather, everybody has a unique
definition of the boundaries of their own.
I'm reminded of the K&R description of number storage sizes - an "int"
is whatever is convenient for use and implementation on the hardware; a
"short" is no larger than an int; a "long" is no shorter than an int.
No
other size information should be assumed.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com
http://www.xenosoft.com/FPUIB